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nKairos let out a soft sigh as he continued to run through the forest. He tucked away the green crystal for now, deciding that he would try to experiment with it after. If things came down to him really needing the ability to see mana, then he could try the last resort and stick it into his eye.

nThough, he knew from experience that would be quite the unpleasant experience, which was why he decided to hold off for now.

nAt first, there was only the sound of his footsteps hitting the grass. But as time passed, Kairos could begin hearing the buzzing sounds of insects.

nHe was initially concerned about having to deal with evolved insects which would probably be quite annoying. However, he couldn’t quite catch a glimpse of any of them. In fact, whenever he got close to any of the nearby sounds, they would suddenly disappear.

nIt almost made him feel like he was imagining those sounds, but they would appear behind him right afterwards, like they were making fun of him.

nKairos didn’t harp on that fact, but there wasn’t much to think about as he continued to run through the forest. At some point, he caught a glimpse of an insect scampering off, just barely in the corner of his vision.

nThis immediately reminded him of the other time he had seen monsters that were afraid.

nIt was due to the presence of his mother, which was fair enough given how exaggeratedly strong she was. But this time, it was his presence that seemed to deter the insects away.

nThey seemed to have an instinctive way to not only detect beings with a high rank, but a built-in command to run away from them. Kairos wondered why he could never feel anything like that though.

nThere were definitely times when there was a nearby high-ranked being, but he did not hold that sense that told them where they were. If he did have that, then he wouldn’t have been unaware of his mother’s presence until she plainly announced herself.

nKairos narrowed his eyes slightly as he continued to run.

nIt seemed to be an ability that normal humans didn’t have access to, as none of his party noticed any danger either. He wondered if there was a way for him to gain that ability without turning into a monster.

nAs he was thinking about this, he noticed that the surrounding trees and foliage had begun to thin. Then all of a sudden, he came to a clearing that showed a city in the distance.

nKairos couldn’t help but wonder how Ling was able to find this place when it was quite far away. He originally believed it was quite close, but taking into account how long he had walked, it was at least a couple of kilometers.

nWhile it wasn’t too big of a deal for him to run that distance with his stats, it shouldn’t be nearly as easy for Ling to scout this far. From the looks of it, Ling had probably spent quite a bit of effort in those three days to track down the place that they came from.

nThat meant he originally wanted to return with the others, but somewhere along the way, he changed.

nOr Kairos was misinterpreting it and Ling just used some special way to find this place.

nAs he got closer to the city, he noticed certain landmarks he remembered in the distance. It was one of the apartment buildings still standing. The reason why it stood out was that many of the other tall buildings around it were either knocked over completely, while some of the others were heavily damaged.

nKairos could generally pinpoint the direction he was initially separated from everyone but decided against it. After all, they were probably gone by now.

nHe instead guessed the general direction of the city that Tiana resided in before heading off there.

nThe one week deadline to return was getting close, and if he was to reunite with everyone else, that would probably be the best place to do so.

nAnd so, he made his way into the city and went in that general direction.

nAlong the way, he met a few monsters that were out and about on the streets. Upon noticing him, they rushed towards them with a roar. Kairos noted that they didn’t seem to be afraid of him before performing a horizontal sweep with his spear.

nWith a light whip, it streaked through the air and cleanly decapitated the few monsters that rushed towards him. Their heads soared in the air before smacking onto the ground along with their bodies.

nKairos lamented over the fact he acquired no points in the process, but that was one of the natural disadvantages to ranking up he was just forced to deal with.

nHe continued to move forth, but that was when a child-like voice called out.

n“Please help us! We-”

nThe voice was suddenly cut off, as someone anxious begged the person to be quiet. Although they did so in the accent of a whisper, it was actually almost as loud as the shout from earlier. Though, the person doing so didn’t seem to realize.

n“You’re going to get us killed!”

nKairos spared a casual glance to where the voice had come from. He saw that there was a girl several stories up in an apartment, sticking her hand out of the window and waving. Behind her, was a woman who wrapped one arm around the girl’s torso and used the other to cover her mouth.

nThe two were desperately fighting each other, one trying to pull forwards and the other back.

nKairos could tell from their movements that they were very weak.

nHe instinctively thought that they were faking it, but quickly discarded that thought process. After dealing with powerful people for so long, he forgot that there were also others that were just trying to survive.

nKairos watched their struggle go on for a few more seconds.

nHe couldn’t help but speak up.

n“Is there really a point to continuing? I’ve already seen you.”

nThe woman holding back the little girl suddenly trembled, unable to put any strength into her arms anymore. This let the little girl break free letting her wave her hands in the air and boldly speak out.

n“Yes, yes! Please help us! You are so strong, you must be able to!”

nKairos rubbed his chin.

n“It is true that I could help.”

nThe little girl nodded excitedly.

n“Yeah!”

nThe corner of Kairos’ lip turned up.

n“But I could also get myself some food by breaking into your place to steal all of it.”

nThe little girl’s expression froze on her face. On the other hand, the woman couldn’t help but express her distraught in an ugly, deep frown.

n“Please, you can’t do that!”

nIt was at that point a third voice came from behind.

n“We can’t negotiate anymore, we have to escape now!”

nHearing that, the woman did not argue, instead grabbing onto the little girl and dragging her back.

nKairos let out a sigh.

n“That’s a good plan, but there’s one small problem with it.”

nAs he said those words, his knees bent slightly. Then, he pushed off the ground hard, letting him shoot up into the air.

nHis foot slammed into the window sill and he used one hand to grab onto the side of the window for balance.

nOn the inside, was a little girl, a woman, and a teenage boy. They all looked at him with expressions of both shock and fear.

nKairos gave a small wave.

n“Hey.”

nThey remained rooted to the spot for a few seconds.

nThat was when the teenage boy suddenly rushed forth, closing both of his eyes with his hands out in front of him.

n“Run away!”

nThe woman cried out. She grabbed onto the boy’s shoulder.

n“No, don’t!”

nThe boy turned around with a frown.

n“You have to run, don’t worry about me!”

nHowever, the woman refused to let go.

n“No, your father said we all had to live, remember?”

nTears formed in the boy’s eyes.

n“And for you to live, I will have to give up my own!”

nHe ended up breaking free.

n“AHHHHH!”

nThe little girl cried out

n“No, big brother!”

nWith both eyes closed and his head lowered, the boy ran towards Kairos and shoved him.

n…Unfortunately, Kairos hadn’t moved back whatsoever. And that was including the fact he hardly exerted any strength.

nHe coughed awkwardly.

n“So have you got it out of your system yet?”

nThe boy slowly opened his eyes and looked upwards. He was clearly filled with fear.

n“I-Impossible.”

nKairos let out a sigh.

n“I just jumped up several stories and landed right in the window frame. You couldn’t have expected that a light shove would be enough to knock me down, right?”

nThe boy fell onto his rear.

n“No… it’s all over.”

nThe woman and little girl also had expressions of despair.

nKairos rolled his eyes.

n“Yeah, yeah. Anyways, if all of you are at F rank, I can bring you to a farm to work on.”

nThe three of them froze in place, having difficulty processing the situation.

nThe little girl was the first to recover.

n“So… you came to help us?”

nShe had a wide smile on her face, forgetting all of the fear she just held onto earlier.

nKairos shook his head, making the girl cringe. But before they plunged into despair, Kairos spoke.

n“First off, you have to be F rank. If that is the case, then I can give you the choice of working on a farm. Though you must note that ninety percent of all you harvest will be collected by the city.”

nBoth the boy and the woman began to calm down after a while.

nWhile they were working up on the words to speak, Kairos took a casual glance around and couldn’t help but furrow his brows.

n“This place… smells as bad as it looks.”

nThere was trash strewn about everywhere, with a room even half ajar with trash spilling out of it, while the washroom seemed to have feces spilling out too.

nKairos had definitely gotten used to smelling bad things from the amount of blood he smelled along with interacting with several people that hadn’t showered in a while.

nHowever, the smell here was still far worse by comparison.

n“How can you even live in this place?”

nThe little girl’s smile drooped slightly.

n“We don’t have another choice.”

nKairos nodded.

nThe boy clenched his fists hard.

n“We… we are F rank. How much food can we get from working on the farms?”

nKairos shrugged.

n“Ten percent of everything you grow. It will be enough if you work hard enough,”

nThe woman frowned.

n“We… we can’t accept leaving this place.”

nThe little girl stamped her foot.

n“No! I’m not staying here anymore!”

nThe boy’s breathing got a little heavy.

n“Give us… give us twenty percent and we will go!”

nKairos let out a sigh.

n“Look, I made you an offer based on how that place works out of consideration for your situation. Frankly, I really don’t need you to come.”

nThe little girl rushed to Kairos and hopped on the spot.

n“We will go! We will go!”

nThe woman bit her lip.

n“No! It’s not safe to leave!”

nThe boy seemed hesitant, but then he took a glance at the place he was in. It was practically a wasteland.

n“Mother… we have to go.”

nThe woman looked down.

n“But-”

n“We can’t survive here!”

nThe boy shouted with clenched fists. A sad frown was on his face, while his voice softened considerably.

n“This is our only chance…”

nThe woman froze on the spot, but slowly nodded a moment after.

n“Ok… ok, ok…”

nKairos sighed.

n“Alright, hurry up and pack whatever you want to bring. I won’t wait for long.”

nThe three anxiously went to pack their things upon hearing that.

nAt that time, a window slowly slid open.

n“Um, could we take part in your deal too?”

nA young man poked his head out of the window and timidly spoke.

nKairos casted a glance.

n“F rank, and ninety percent will be given to the city.”

nThe young man nodded quickly.

n“Thank you! I will get ready now.”

nThen… several other windows slid open, revealing even more people.

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